A trek up a mountain trail by the duo of Irken was a challenge for Corr. He was still spry when he needed to be, but he was an old man. This was still a promise to Aero that he was going to see through if he could help it. If things went well…

If that fool didn't shoot at them.

"If he does anything stupid, we're running." Calla wasn't keen on getting shot at today. "He's such a foolish man."

"I don't understand him either, dear," Corr sighed. "He was extremely loyal to the Commander but with the rest of us, he always kept his distance." As they moved closer to the Ahko cabin, Corr's instincts kicked in. He knew they were being watched. The man had to be close, that much he was certain.

Lo and behold, the retired sniper emerged, clad in camouflage, that old Italian Beretta SMG in his hands; Kazak was quite fond of his 38A. A clear look of disdain was evident on his face. Two people he anticipated never seeing again if he could help it, and there they were.

"Hello, Kazak," Corr opened.

"What part of leave me the fuck alone did you not understand?" Kazak asked, irritated as he leaned against a tree on his left side, the SMG remaining in hand.

Off to a pleasant start already. Corr, despite the wisdom that came with age, was still Corr. No amount of reservation or tongue-biting would ever change that.

"I'm getting on in years. Little hard of hearing these days." He facetiously sold on-approach.

"Nice to see you again, Kaz." Calla smiled, coming up to Corr's side. "I see your life of solitude's treated you well. You look good."

Kazak looked at Calla a bit confused at her remark. "...Thanks, I guess? Hello to you too, Calla." His attention turned back to Corr. "Do I have to whack you upside the skull to get into your head that I wanted to be left alone? I thought the thick headedness was supposed to be Haxx and Radec's department."

"Orders are orders. Vult said to keep an eye on you. Someone has to." Corr summarized with a shrug. "Have to make sure you haven't succumbed to the elements and died alone up here by yourself."

"Corr…" Calla gently chided. Mincing words was not the purpose of paying a surprise visit.

"You going to invite us in or continue pretending the rest of us don't exist?"

"I mean as far as I'm concerned?" The man simply shook his head, "What do you two want?"

"I know you have a table and chairs in there," Corr gestured to the cabin across the clearing. "I just hiked up a mountain with my bad leg. Show me a tiny shred of compassion, jerkface."

That old nickname again…

"You can either tell me what in the fuck you two want or you can go back the way you came. I'm not in the mood."

"Aero misses you and wants to see you again. We all do," Calla intervened before Corr's brand of barbed humor made it worse. "We made the trip to Vort for Remembrance Day, caught up with Rub and Jur while we were in Tallum…she wanted us to check on you while we were planetside. She also said if you don't make an appearance at our next get-together, she'll drag you kicking and screaming down this mountain herself. We're the diplomatic envoy."

"Does she want to have that conversation with Mister Maxim or Mister Beretta? I got friends."

"Shut up, you aren't going to do dookie." Corr scoffed, meandering past Kazak toward the cabin. "I need to sit down."

He contemplated a warning shot of a sort before loudly sighing as he moved and stood in front of the door, motioning towards porch seats with his head.

Calla caught up to Kazak, noting his rising ire at Corr's behavior. She leaned in close, a hand to her mouth to whisper.

"He's a bit cranky. Recorded his personal recollection of what happened at Tallum. Rem, the crash site…cut him some slack."

"And I just had unwanted specters of my past drop in unannounced." The sniper whispered back to her, watching Corr take a seat on the porch as he leaned against the door frame, glaring at the Captain turned Commander. He wasn't too happy.

"Well, I am happy to see you. He wouldn't have climbed up to see you if he wasn't." Calla spoke, moving to find a seat next to Corr with a consoling rub of his back. "Aren't you?"

"Ecstatic." Corr deadpanned, less than serious. "Somehow I doubt we interrupted your busy schedule up here of stalking around the forest spooking people."

"Corr!"

"What? I'm joking. He knows that."

"Yeah and I'm in no mood for it. Not you, not Aero, not any of you." He huffed, not leaving his spot against the door frame, nor has he slung his SMG over his shoulder yet. "I left to be left alone, the landlord and his family aside. I wanted to enjoy my freedom and this small measure of peace I managed to find."

"Irk forbid you have any meaningful connections with other people," Corr rolled his eyes, long accustomed to Kazak's standoffishness. "One day of your life to catch up with the same breed of people that understand you is not impacting your freedom. Lot of children and their children are curious to meet their heroes that made their way of life possible."

"They have the rest of you. You know I hate the spotlight." Kazak's own eyes rolled. "Besides, you know who I am. You know I'm not exactly going to be talkative."

"We all do. Old habits die hard. Just like your dark and mysterious outcast act," The retired Commander sighed with a rub of his eyes, mildly frustrated with his continued obstiance. Very well, nuclear option it is. "...managed to earn myself a personal visit from Tak a couple weeks ago."

"You're lucky that's all she did," Calla scolded gently, turning her attention back to Kazak over her shoulder. "Mr By-the-Book here decided to start spilling an entire factory's worth of beans to some of his students…about everything."

That caught the sniper's attention. Corr? Really? He pushed himself off the doorframe with his shoulder as he walked closer to the pair. "Didn't think this bastard had it in him."

"Everyone here knows how this stuff works. How much of it gets buried, hidden from the public, and sanitized before it reaches even authorized eyes. I…felt compelled." He went on to elaborate his actions. "The cadets in question were sharp and managed to scratch up to the surface a scrap of information about me. I wasn't going to violate their trust in me as their professor by lying through my teeth. Hard telling how many years I have left in me all the mileage on this body. Someone else other than us needs to know. Everything."

That explanation had him taking a seat, the SMG now resting on his lap. A smirk on the retired sniper's face. Then he laughed.

"I thought I was going to have to be the one to do it. I was honestly considering my own uncensored memoirs."

"I can only imagine how skewed and biased it would be towards us with your stellar social skills."

"Corr!"

"Yes, dear."

"...And then the eternal pain in my ass had the gall to argue with me about certain field modifications made on Vort."

"First of all, it wasn't an argument. It was not discussing it first and just doing it without authorization. If you're going to be a smartass, do it right."

"Yeah, well, when have I ever exactly been following the book like you?"

"When it serves to benefit you most, like always." Corr countered.

"Only unfair fight is the one you lose."

"Because screw the rest of the team, right?"

"ENOUGH!" Calla bellowed, wide-eyed, gesturing with her palms to both of them. "Irk's sake, you both act like a couple of teenage girls!"

Huffing, she smoothed her antenna back with a deep sigh before smiling to Kazak.

"...what would it take to get you to come to Irk? Aero and Vard offered to host everyone."

Kazak loudly sighed as he leaned back. "I'd rather have gone the rest of my life without laying eyes on that planet ever again."

"I promise you it looks much better now. I made sure of it," She wistfully smiled at him. "I've kept Tak and her cabinet very honest."

"Yeah, well…" Kazak went silent for a few moments before shaking his head. One horrible moment best left in the grave where it belonged. "Genuinely, I'd rather not, but I figure you two already know that."

"Shocking news to me." Corr chided. "This will be the last time you're bothered with any of this. I promise. I'm not long for this universe and it's difficult to say where the others are in their own lives. It's why we try to get together every so often to catch up. At least Vult has a legitimate reason for not attending."

"Yeah, yeah, types like Tuu still fucking out there." He huffed, "Not to mention certain people still at large."

"Always have been, always will be." Corr summarized, more serious in tone. "Nothing you, I, or her can do to ever truly be rid of them. It's natural opposition to the order of things."

"If it makes you feel any better, most of them are more-or-less under house arrest on a planetary scale." Calla offered. "They can't so much as scratch their butts without my branch documenting it."

"Not my planet, not my problem anymore." Kazak huffed. "You both know I did more than just walk away from the team. I think I'm the only one of the whole unit who refused to be part of what we fought for in some form. My home's here; Vort gets attacked again, well, I'm still spry enough."

Corr's aged features tightened incredulously as he turned to look at the antisocial marksman.

"What the fuck are you babbling about? No one said anything about claiming Irk was your home. Just to come have food, drink some beers, socialize, make a bunch of your friends' kids think you're this awesome guy when you're really just a salty asshole."

Even Calla struggled to hold back a snicker of amusement at her mate's commentary.

"S-sorry…but he does have a point. It's a cookout, Kaz…not life-or-death."

"I'd be much too tempted to slam a bottle of some of my home brewed liquor over the back of his head…"

"Try it, see what happens. Since you don't get the news up here, I had an episode back home." He began, less than proud of the events that transpired. "Got caught in the middle of an armed robbery at a corner store near our house. Couple of dumb kids doing dumb shit with their dumb brains and dumb free will. One of them had a beat-to-crap surplus VDF plasma rifle. Standard issue ones the Federation hosed us non-stop. One second I was looking down the barrel of it. Next…both of them were out cold and blood was everywhere."

Calla noted his trembling hand, slipping her own atop it with a firm grasp. A reminder she was there and he wasn't where he thought he was.

"...pretty sure one of them is still laid up in the hospital and will never be the same again."

Kazak blinked and shook his head. Stupid kids.

"To be honest, any plan I had that involved needing to take you out always involved a ranged weapon."

"Probably the smartest idea you've had in your life were that the case." He played off with dark humor. "Much as you frustrate me, I do care about you. I wouldn't waste my time coming up here if I didn't."

"We both do." Calla chimed in with a nod. "...one last time? Please? You'll never see or hear from us again if that's what you truly want."

"I basically wanted to drop off the face of the galaxy, you both know that." Kazak rubbed his forehead with a sigh. "Why I'm here, officially a Federation citizen but even then, like I barely exist here. Peace, quiet, solitude, genuine fucking happiness after everything." He stopped his explanation with a pause as he looked out to the woods. "I don't know why you still even care if I'm such an asshole anyhow."

"Because, idiot…I fought alongside you to overthrow the tyrannical regime responsible for so much death and devastation; its infamy echoes to this day. There aren't many people I can resonate with. I'd do it all over again to protect what we have now…the only thing I'd change is I wish Volx could have lived to see it."

"Standoffish as you are, Kaz…you're a good guy. Well-intending and you do what's right. It's what we all wanted. You have more in common with everyone you hate to see so much than you think." She added with a smirk.

A hand ran down his face. Frustrated. "I'll think about it. No promises but I'll think about it."

"Alright, we'll see you there." Corr concluded, making to stand from his seat at the table.

"Damn it I said that was a maybe, you fucking deaf moron!"

"You still have a means I can contact you or do I need to send smoke signals?"

"...Post boy."

"I'll have Rub pass the message when he collects rent or whatever arrangement you two have." Corr concluded, turning to face the secluded marksman with an extension of his hand.

Kazak mumbled before shaking Corr's hand. "Maybe I should wear the suit just in case I feel like punching you in the face."

"No amount of self-protection will save you from her wrath." Corr nodded toward Calla, who sweetly smiled. "...the grandkids might get a kick out of it though."

He sighed, stretching his back briefly with a wince.

"You take care of yourself. Hopefully I get to see you one more time."

"Don't disappoint Aero if I have her make your favorite and you don't show up." Calla added in jest.

"Doubt she has freshly killed Vortian game. If I show up, just make sure she has alcohol." He didn't want to admit it, but part of him was extremely tempted to break the suit back out again. Just for kicks for a change rather than a serious fight? Maybe it wasn't all bad.